türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Milliyet Newspaper, 24 February 2020)
The Struma
The passenger ship 'Struma' left Romania on 12 December 1941 en
route to Istanbul with 773 Jews hoping to escape the Nazi antisemitic
purges. The Struma was made to wait for 69 days at Sarayburnu, at the
tip of Istanbul, while efforts were made to obtain visas for Palestine
for the refugees from the British.
The Turkish Red Crescent humanitarian organization provided food
for the refugees during their wait but on 24 February 1942 the ship
was brought to the waters off Şile in the Black Sea, where a Russian
submarine sunk it.
The one survivor of the tragedy was David Stoliar, who was saved by
fisherman İsmail Aslan. Stoliar visited Aslan in 2005. Now, Aaron
Nomaz, well-known in the worlds of diplomacy and business and the
honorary consul of Portugal in Istanbul, has written a book about
Stoliar entitled "Vicdanları Sorgulatan Hikaye: Struma" (Struma: A
Story That Challenges Consciences).
Stoliar and savior Aslan
In his book, Nommaz blames the British for the tragedy because of their
Palestine policy at the time, which focused on getting oil from the Arabs
and not upsetting the Arabs by letting Jews come from Europe. So by
withholding visas for Palestine from the Struma refugees in Istanbul,
the British left the Jews to their fate, sealed by the Russian submarine.
Aaron Nommaz
Stolier was the son of a factory owner in Romania and his mother was
sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The Betar organization
arranged for the Jews to flee to Palestine. In his book, Nommaz quotes
Stoliar as follows: "I paid a thousand dollars for the voyage. When I
got my ticket there was a note on it: 'This ship will sail in rough seas,
with 600 people in harsh conditions. The cabins and toilets are limited
and there is no dining hall. Everyone must sail with their own
provisions. Since the elderly, women and children find it hard to reach
the upper bunks, they will be given the lower bunks.' Normally I
would never have booked passage but under the circumstances the
Struma was the most beautiful ship I'd ever seen."
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder